The present invention involves in part, a plastic envelope which converts into a sheath for catheters which are used for oxygenation and/or suctioning, particularly for such catheters adapted and intended to be attachable to and detachable from fluid suctioning and/or oxygenation sources. Sheaths of various kinds have been devised for such catheters to protect medical personnel from contact with body fluids and thereby expose such personnel to potential infection unless gloves and other protective clothing are worn. U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,344 discloses the use of a protective sheath for a respiratory device for this purpose. Simple suctioning catheters which include an opening for a therapist's thumb to control suctioning now provide sheaths extending from such opening to the distal end of the catheter but not otherwise. Protective catheter sheaths are also known and used for catheters other than oxygenation/suctioning as illustrated in U.S. patent Nos.: 3,861,395, 4,062,363, 3,709,223 and 3,937,220.
The present invention finds its utility in closed catheter systems for endotracheal insufflation and suctioning of comatose patients. Such patients are kept alive by respirators and accumulate fluid in tracheal areas which must periodically be removed in order to sustain life. In recent years, procedures have been initiated wherein endotracheal catheters used to remove such fluids are sealed within an outer flexible sheath to permit the therapist to place the catheter in the tracheal area and to withdraw the catheter therefrom for lavage cleansing (a process which is repeated several times) without exposing the therapist to contamination. The present state of the art puts such a system in place for a twenty-four hour period during which the same suctioning valve and sheathed catheter are used perhaps ten or more times. Examples of such sheathed catheter apparatus may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,344. It is an important objective of the concepts disclosed herein to permit easy and inexpensive replacement of contaminated parts used in an endotracheal suctioning procedure to minimize risk to the patient and to hospital personnel.